Hey iPanda here. Just a little info here that this is my first crossover fanfic that happened to involve two different anime's this is basically a crossover of Yu-gi-Oh and bleach and the idea just came to me randomly. There's quite a bit of thiefshipping so do look forward to that.
Marik remembered being told over and over in his childhood that he would be the heir to the Ishtar clan and the next guardian to the Pharaoh's tomb. But what no one told him is what would happen if he were to die. He always suspected that maybe his twin brother Mariku would take the responsibility as the next heir if Marik were to cease his existence. Which in any case did prove to be true. Poor Marik remembered being told by his father weeks before the tomb keeper's initiation if he was looking forward to it. Marik of course confessed his fears to facing something that will drastically change his life forever and begged if Mariku could take the responsibility. Him and his siblings talked of any possible loop hole for the initiation and Mariku, despite being the youngest twin excepted the responsibility much to Marik's delight. But his father would not except this and despite everything that Marik was against; begging and pleading the entire time to not be forced into the initiation, Marik was tied to the table and the hot blade carved into his back by his own father. Marik wasn't sure when he died during the initiation, all he knew is that at some point his body grew numb from the pain, that he grew tired and his eye lids became heavy, he remembered that he stopped screaming, and that he felt something pulling him away and when Marik closed his eyes finally he remembered standing next to his body on the initiation table with a chain attached to his chest and his father still carving into his back thinking that his son hadn't died but had passed out from shock. Marik stood quietly watching as his father finished the initiation and attempted to wake up Marik. When his body refused to move or even stir his father assumed the worse and called in a medic to check on his son. The medic checked the body and shook his head signaling the worst has already happened. His father fell to the ground screaming in rage and despair, and for the first time in his existence, Marik knew of his father's love for him. If only Marik hadn't have died he would have been happy to see his father crying and holding his son's body so close to him and would even hug him back.
Then it was his sibling's turn to react to his death. Isis fell to the ground holding her face in her hands sobbing loudly. Rishid knelt to the ground and held Isis close to him and stroked her hair gently trying to soothe her grief. Marik and Mariku always had a hunch that Rishid might have feelings for Isis and didn't object to it either. Rishid after all wasn't their blood brother so there was no problem if Rishid and Isis were to fall in love. Their have been ways for the Ishtar clan to exist in a tomb for thousands of years without causing any inbreeding to occur. And Mariku of course reacted predictably; by throwing a tantrum. Marik watched in silence as Mariku lashed out at their father, screaming, cursing, and beating against his chest while his father looked down sadly and knelt down to hold him, but Mariku of course wouldn't allow any comfort from the man that killed his twin and pushed away from him while giving one final punch into his cheek before running down the halls screaming. Mariku ran down every hall until he finally found Marik's body being cleaned of all excess blood on his body. The adults tried shooing Mariku out of the room but Mariku fought them off the best he could until he ran over to his twin's body and cursed Marik for dying on their birthday. For the first time ever Marik witnessed his stronger twin cry since the day of their birth. And Marik cried, too. He ran over and tried embracing Mariku as they both cried but Marik was again forced to realize that he can no longer speak to his brother, that he can no longer touch his brother, that no one will ever see him again and this is what made Marik cry even more. He knew that death would free him from the Ishtar clan traditions but Marik had no idea how much his family loved him upon his death. Marik cried bitterly for hours while his family grieved over his death until days later they gave him his funeral. It was tradition that they cremate the body's of the dead so they wouldn't have to deal with the stench of rotting flesh in the tomb and that they believed burying a body in the Pharaoh's tomb to be a form of blasphemy. Only one tomb shall house a body. And so for the first time since his mother's death he witnessed his family reach the surface to scatter his ashes into the wind. It was bright. The surface was so bright. Marik always asked what the surface looked like but his father refused to answer, saying that the Ishtar family had no need to see the surface. But of course this increased Marik's curiosity so he vowed that one day he would come and see the surface. He just wished that he could've been alive to see the sun, and the sky for the first time.
Weeks later his father arranged for the tomb keepers initiation on his second son: Mariku. As expected everyone besides Mariku objected to it. Isis and Rishid haven't fully recovered to Marik's death and begged that Mariku wouldn't have to face the same fate as Marik. Mariku just watched everyone bicker over whether or not it should be okay for him to go through the initiation with complete indifference. Marik knew his twin would except the initiation. It was something they talked about before his death. If Marik didn't want the initiation than his twin would except it. So when everyone stopped arguing and turned to Mariku for an answer his brother smiled and said the only thing Marik had hoped he wouldn't say but knew he would:
"I'll take it."
Marik was of course worried for his brother. He died thanks to the initiation. But he thought that maybe Mariku was excepting it because of their promise or maybe he wanted to atone for his brother's death. Or maybe he had an ulterior motive. Whichever the reason Mariku's initiation was considerably more different to Marik's. Mariku walked down the hall with the guards walking beside him, unlike Marik who was dragged down the halls crying and begging for help. And Mariku also laid himself down on the table and allowed himself to be bounded in case he changed his mind at the last minute. And the thing that disturbed Marik even more was that his brother's reaction was much more different than his own. Marik was crying and screaming the whole time but Mariku was laughing! This disturbed Marik even more and made him think twice about watching his initiation. Marik wanted to turn away and to leave the room but he couldn't bear it if he saw his brother die before him so Marik stayed and watched. Sometimes he would turn to the guards and see what was their reaction to Mariku's incessant laughter. They were all cringing, their faces crinkled up uncomfortably. His father was even disturbed by this. It's like this was the first time ever that they ever witnessed a ten year old boy laugh hysterically through out the whole initiation. And when it was over Mariku didn't seem bothered at all. He even tried standing up on his own if it weren't for his father stopping him, telling him that he needs to be bandaged first. Mariku was visibly displeased but laid back down so they could clean up all the blood, put ointment on all his wounds which made him wince at the feeling of cool gel being rubbed against his wounds and had up to ten yards worth of bandages wrapped all over his body. Mariku again tried getting up but his father told him that he should take it easy for a few weeks and offered a hand to his son to help him off the table. Mariku glared at the hand and Marik thought he was going to smack it away or spit at his father but Mariku relented and excepted the hand and allowed himself to be led back to his room where Isis and Rishid were waiting.
Marik knew that his older siblings had heard his laughing. It wasn't that hard to miss. If possible everyone in the entire tomb must have heard his insane laughter. But despite that both Isis and Rishid put on a front that displayed concern for the younger Ishtar instead of uncomfortable worry for their own well-being. It was at that point where everyone and even Marik himself began to question Mariku's sanity and whether the initiation was at all a good idea.
After a while things have calmed down and began their normalcy while Marik watched. Mainly he watched over his twin. While everyone returned to their original life style, Marik watched over Mariku. Marik couldn't shake off the feeling that maybe Mariku really was insane even though he calmed down completely after the initiation. Marik had this nagging feeling in his chest that maybe Mariku had an ulterior motive after all and didn't care about Marik or the Ishtar clan. So more than anyone else Marik watched his brother constantly, in case Mariku did something suspicious. He didn't like that he was haunting his brother but truthfully he didn't have much choice either.
He thought that once he died he would go to the after life but he hasn't gone anywhere else besides the surface and the tomb. To top it off he's had this chain attached to his chest the entire time after his death. The scary part is that Marik had caught the chain eating away at itself literally! Little mouths would appear at the farthest end of the chain and eat away at itself once or twice a day causing brief moments of panic for Marik. But after months of seeing this Marik had adjusted to it. He's gone to the library inside the tomb to find an answer for the encroaching chains, but he couldn't touch anything physically. Sadly enough, Marik had a feeling that even if he could grab a hold of an object physically, that he wouldn't be able to find an actual proper answer to his situation. So instead Marik spent his time watching Mariku by day and visiting the surface by night. Predictably the surface at night wasn't as fun as he thought it would be. Aside from watching TV in stranger's houses things have proven to be boring for the dead. Not being able to touch anything, or to say anything has been an extreme disadvantage. No one could hear him when he talks to them and his hand would slide right through everything he touched. And things back home haven't changed much at all. Rishid continued his sworn promise and looked after Mariku even though it looked like as if he didn't need anyone to watch over him. Isis read through books giving Marik a golden opportunity and read through the books at the same time as Isis. Still he couldn't find anything helpful. But Marik couldn't give up hope. He needed help. But everything Isis read had done no help for Marik! So Marik went back to his old routine to looking over his twin, and watching TV in nearby villages.
On the bright side he has seen many other ghosts as well. Many of them having been dead much longer than Marik. A lot of them were friendly, while others wanted nothing to do with Marik. Marik understood completely. Many dead people were probably like Marik and were trying to understand their death. Well not understand his death per se, but more like understand what exactly is happening to his body. Why does he have this chain on his chest? And why does the chain occasionally eat away at itself? Marik may never find the answer.
It has been a whole year now since his death. Marik never knew he'd be turning 11 while everyone mourned the first anniversary of his death and the failure of the tomb keeper's initiation. Marik watched as Isis and Rishid cooked his favorite food and shared it between the family. And at the same time Marik didn't want to watch. It hurt to watch his family eat koshary, and drink tea, and talk about all the good times they had with Marik before his death. How Isis would read fairy tales to Marik when he was younger. One of Marik's favorite that Isis mentioned was this story about the genie that could grant three wishes. And she even said what Marik's three wishes were: To see the surface, to grow up the way he wanted to and not have to be forced into anything that he was against, and for his family to be free from the responsibility of looking over a dead Pharaoh's tomb. Marik cried hearing Isis say all this and his family cried too. Everyone besides Mariku. Mariku developed the same scowl Marik saw last year and Mariku began yelling and cursing at their father for killing his only blood brother. He confessed to how much he truly hated his father, while Marik was just afraid of him. He yelled, and cursed and Marik cried the whole time. Mariku really did care about Marik after all. It just took a whole year to realize this. But one thing that Marik didn't want his brother to do was to run away and come back with the sennen rod. Marik watched as his family pulled away from the dining table as Mariku pulled at the sheath of the sennen rod revealing a dagger inside it. Marik's eyes widened in fear as his siblings gasped and stepped further away and Mariku ran right up to his father and stabbed him numerous times in the abdomen and chest. Isis cried and Rishid pulled Mariku away from their father. It was too late. Their father was already standing outside of his body with a chain attached to his chest linking it too his body. His father looked frantically all over the room before focusing on Marik. Marik looked away from his father and watched Rishid struggle with Mariku as one of the guards that came in tried to pull the sennen rod from his hand.
"Marik, look at me!" his father ordered and Marik obeyed and looked over to his father with an indifferent gaze. Marik experienced all this before just a year ago, and now his father is sharing the same fate as well. His father didn't speak to Marik but instead ran over and embraced him. Marik was caught by surprise and as much as he wanted to hug back he pulled away from his father and pointed at the struggle that was still happening between his younger twin, his step brother and now two guards.
"Do you see this? This is because of you! You killed me and now Mariku is going to kill everyone and it's all because you forced me into the initiation! I hate you! I'll always hate you! This is all your fault!" Marik yelled at his father.
Marik said it. He finally said what he's been thinking for a whole year now. Marik finally said what Mariku just said minutes ago before killing his father but only with much more rage in his voice than any that Marik had ever experienced in his life. Mariku was right. Marik was afraid of his father. But now Marik has the upper hand. He now has reason to finally give his father every verbal lashing that he was too afraid to give while his twin was more than willing to yell at anyone that looked at him wrong. His father was completely agape at first but frowned solemnly and Marik and his father turned to the fight that Mariku was having with everyone right now. It was ridiculous that Mariku was the only one that was armed and slashing at everyone in sight. One guard was already dead and one was on the verge of death. Rishid was on the ground clutching at a stab wound on his leg. Marik hoped that his twin didn't slash at Rishid's femoral artery but the chances of hope was very unlikely. Marik had watched enough health channels at the surface to know that hope right now has disappeared and that Mariku was going to kill everyone in sight. He already killed three people and now he has his sights on killing Isis and Rishid before the next guard came in and stopped Mariku. As expected though, no guard came in and Mariku had indeed killed Isis and Rishid viciously before anyone came in to stop it. It was as if God wanted Mariku to snap and kill everyone that wanted Marik to go through the initiation that caused his death. When a guard finally came in, Mariku took the only route he thought possible. Marik knew his twin was tired. He knew his twin had lost a little bit of blood having accidentally stabbed himself in his homicidal rampage. And when a new guard came in Mariku did the only possible escape he could think of: he killed himself. And since then Marik was the one to explain to his family and the two guards that they are dead and that they no longer are tied to the responsibilities to being a tomb keeper and can now live their life outside of the tomb.
"But we're not alive, Marik. We are dead!" Isis tearfully exclaimed. Marik frowned.
"I know but we don't have to watch the tomb anymore! We are free! Mariku has freed us from this fate and we can finally escape the darkness, and move into the light of the surface!" Marik said cheerfully. Rishid was the second to speak.
"Marik-sama, you've been dead for a year now and even you haven't gone into the light. How can we go into the light as well?" Rishid asked.
"Yeah and what are these chains attached to our chests?" Mariku yelled holding the chain attached to his chest. Marik frowned not having the answer to that.
"I-I don't know… I've been dead for a year and even I haven't found the answer to the chains or why we haven't passed on to the afterlife…"And that was it.
Nothing else was said for the rest of the evening. Or for the rest of the week. Everyone was coming to terms with their death. The two guards left. Marik didn't know where they went too. They probably took his advice and left the tomb. His family on the other hand stayed. They simply refused to leave. Well Mariku wanted to leave the tomb but everyone else had wanted to stay. They felt that if they left they would be leaving the only thing that gave them purpose in their existence. So Marik decided to stay despite Mariku's objection. Marik didn't know what would happen to him if he left his family and only had Mariku to give him company. So reluctantly Marik stayed but Mariku left. Mariku called Marik a coward for refusing to leave and left the tomb. Isis and Rishid stayed with Marik the whole time while he cried over losing his twin, his other self, his stronger half. No one could ever understand his pain. It was quite some time before Mariku returned. No one saw it coming. Everyone thought that he would have left for good but he came back and Marik was happy. He ran up to his brother and hugged him tightly while crying. Mariku awkwardly hugged back but after a few seconds of Marik sobbing into his gown Mariku finally pulled him away with a serious look on his face. He had something important to say.
"Marik, I have something to say. There are these people in black robes just outside the tomb that could help us. They have the answer to why we have chains on our chests and why we haven't moved on yet. They could get us to move on!" Mariku said happily.
It was hard for anyone to trust him. Mariku had been gone for nearly two months and comes back saying that people in black robes could get them to move on? Marik was probably the only one to believe Mariku. He had to believe him. It was his twin and he came back with just the words he needed to hear! These people could have the answer to why no one has been able to move on to the after life this entire time! Marik chose to believe Mariku, and even Isis and Rishid followed them to the surface.
Their father chose to stay. The Ishtar tomb keepers way was the only thing he had left. Isis and Rishid shared their goodbyes while Marik and Mariku waited at the tomb gate to leave. They of course still held resentment for the man that ruined everything and wanted nothing more but to leave, and when Isis and Rishid finally met up with them they stepped through the gate where the said people were surface waiting for them. One looked like a child with white spiked up hair and the other was clearly older than the other with cherry blonde hair and abnormally large breasts. Isis covered her chest self-consciously at the sight. These two people didn't look like they had the answer to their salvation but Marik wanted to believe his brother.
"Is this your family?" The boy spoke. Mariku stepped forward.
"This is it." Mariku confirmed. Marik was the first to speak.
"M-my name is Marik Ishtar. This is Isis Ishtar my older sister, and that is Rishid Ishtar my older step brother. My twin brother told me you could show us a way to the after life?" Marik asked stepping forward eagerly. The boy nodded and walked up to the Ishtar's and pulled out his sword. Everyone flinched and inched away from the two people thinking this was a bad idea. The blond noticed and giggled.
"Oh, don't you worry about his zanpaku-to! Normally it's used for fighting but in this case it's used to send all of you to the Soul Society!" She said waving off their doubts.
"But wait, I want to know why we have these chains on our chests, and how a sword could send us to the afterlife!" Marik shouted. Moving on could wait. Right now Marik wanted answers. The boy looked at Marik for a moment before re-sheathing his sword.
"Very well. I'll tell you, and then you have to move on," The boy said. "The chains you have on your chests stand for your attachments to this world. Even though you probably wanted to move on the chains stayed getting smaller and smaller and over time the chain would have disappeared and you would turn into a monster called a 'hollow'," The boy explained. Marik looked at the chain on his chest. It was now only at least five links off his chest. It would only be a matter of time before he became this "hollow". "Our jobs as shinigami is to prevent that from happening. So we leave Soul Society on a mission to purify hollows and to send earthbound spirits to Soul Society. Or the 'after life' as you called it." The boy finished explaining and the blond stepped forward.
"Don't you worry about a thing about where you would go. Soul Society is what you call 'heaven'. There you won't have to worry about becoming a hollow or getting attacked. There are plenty of people there to help you out on your arrival too. So everything will be covered when you move on." The blond said cheerfully.
All doubts the Ishtar's had were gone now. They trusted these "shinigami" because there were helping them. They told Marik all he needed to know and that was enough. They all excepted their help into sending them to the Soul Society. They started with Mariku who wanted to go first. The boy drew out his sword and tapped Mariku on the forehead with the handle. A light glowed from his head and Mariku disappeared into Soul Society. A butterfly flew from the spot he disappeared from. Marik was the one to go next. He remembered the feeling of finally moving on. He felt lighter, and much calmer. It was much different than he expected. He thought a tunnel was going to appear in front of him with a bright light ahead of him. But instead he felt his eyesight get blurry and in a second he was in a forest with Mariku standing next to him looking around wondering where they were. Isis showed up next and then Rishid came last. One thing that Marik was grateful for was that they no longer had the chains on their chests like before and didn't need to worry about becoming a hollow like the shinigami said. Unfortunately, they didn't hear from the two shinigami after that.
The only thing that had helped the Ishtar family in the least was a path that led straight to a nearby village. The citizen's of that village all wore similar clothing to what the shinigami wore. Marik never received this much attention from this many people in his life. It was clear that the Ishtar's stood out like a sore thumb because of their skin color and clothes. All the people around here had much lighter skin than the Ishtars and wore these different colored robes. Mariku stuck out his tongue and everyone went back to what they were doing before they arrived. Isis and Rishid walked up to a bazaar that had robes on display. The merchant looked up at the siblings and squinted her eyes inquisitively.
"Excuse me, but how much would these robes be?" Isis asked nervously.
"You're not from around here are you?" The merchant asked. Isis cleared her throat.
"No, we just arrived to the Soul Society. What is this place?" Isis asked
"This is the Rukangai. Everyone besides the shinigami live here. Normally I would charge people for kimono's but for newcomers I'm obligated to give you guys a handful of clothes free of charge." The merchant said smiling. All of the Ishtar's smiled in return. That woman was right. Things will be much easier for them upon arrival!
They all picked the robes or "kimono's" that they favored. Each taking up to four pairs free of charge. Marik took a bright red kimono with black plants printed on it, and a light blue one with birds on it, a grey kimono, and finally a purple kimono. Mariku snorted when Marik reached for the purple one first so Marik took a few other "manly" looking kimono's. Mariku took a red kimono with black birds on it, a dark green kimono, a black kimono, and finally a dark blue one. Isis took a white kimono with pretty flowers on it, a pink one, a purple on, and a light blue one. Rishid took a dark red kimono, a brown kimono, a white kimono, and a bright green kimono. The merchant looked at them funny for a second before Mariku rudely asked why she was staring at them like that.
"Do you want some pants to go with those? It's optional, but it's also free for new residents." The merchant said. The boys looked at each other for a second before grabbing a few matching pairs of pants to go with the robes.
"Would you like to try that on? I have a changing room inside you could use. Here I'll give you a bag to hold all those for you." She said leading them into the shop.
Like she said there were a number of closets or "changing rooms" and she gave them all burlap bags to contain their new clothes. Marik stepped into one of the changing rooms and pulled off his gown. He looked at the kimono for a minute not sure on how to wear something like this. This is the first time he's ever seen a kimono before and he wasn't sure on how to put it on. So he put on the pants first and tied up the string into a knot. Marik looked at himself in the mirror before turning around to confirm his fears. He still had the memory of the Pharaoh carved into his back. Marik moved his hand to touch it and felt the bumped up skin that stood out like a sore bruise on his body. If Marik still has this mark in the afterlife than maybe his twin still had his mark, too. Marik sighed angrily again cursing his father for doing this too him and his brother. Marik turned around and put on the kimono, folding it over his chest and tucking in half of it into his pants like the way the citizen's outside wore it. He wrapped a sash around his waist finally changing out of his old clothes and into his new ones. Something about these clothes felt so different compared to the old gowns he wore back in the tomb. These clothes were soft and felt good on his skin. It was almost like he wasn't wearing anything at all. And wearing pants for the first time was certainly a bonus. He liked these clothes. Stepping out of the room he could see his sister Isis standing outside adjusting the belt nervously. Mariku was already done changing his clothes and was sitting on a bench looking around the room clearly bored. Marik walked over to his brother and sat next to him.
"So, how do I look?" Marik asked. Mariku glanced over and smirked.
"Like a lady." He teased making Marik playfully elbow him. Marik wore the red kimono with the plants printed on it. Mariku wore his black kimono. To Marik he didn't think he looked like a woman at all, but that didn't stop them from their normal teasing. For once since his death Marik felt that things were finally going back to normal. When Rishid finally stepped out of the changing room in his brown kimono it was clear that the first part of plan "A" was done. Now they needed to find food and a place to stay.
But they couldn't find anyone willing to let them live with them. They were afraid of them. They were afraid of them because of their darker skin. It was obvious that these people had never seen an Egyptian before. So many dead people here and not one of them has ever seen a person with darker skin. So instead they went out to find food instead. Of course like before with the kimono's they got free food. It was nice that they got free things for being new to the Soul Society. But the problem still remained that they have no place to stay. And the sun was setting too. They had very little time left before they ended up staying their first night in Soul Society in the streets and the Ishtar's were growing desperate. After giving up and sitting down in front of a tavern they all decided to stay the night sleeping in the alley, much to Mariku's displeasure.
"This isn't fair! That shinigami woman said that everything will be prepared for us and not one single person has let us stay in there house! Not even letting us stay the night in an Inn! How could they do that to us! That woman lied!" Mariku shouted standing up and stomping his feet across the ground.
"We have no choice, Mariku. No one seems to be willing to let us stay. Lets just hope that tomorrow will be better for us." Isis said. She stuck her hand into the burlap bag and gave each of her siblings some fruit and bread to eat. They all ate quietly and when they were about to hide into the alley a little boy about Marik's age came running up to them. Panting upon catching up with them when he stood up. The boy had white hair like the shinigami boy, but his wasn't spiked up and his was much shorter than the shinigami's.
"M-my name is Ryou Touzoku. I can let you stay at my place, if you like." He said smiling. Marik and Mariku smiled immediately and turned to the boy.
"Really?" Marik asked hopefully.
"Hold on, you two," Isis said before kneeling down before the boy. "Where are your parents?" Isis asked the boy. The boy blushed in embarrassment.
"I-I have no parents. They're dead…" Ryou said easily crushing everyone's hopes. If he had no parents than he probably didn't have a place to live and the best they could find is a tool shed in the forest. "But my big brother owns a house just outside of the village! I could take you there and you could stay with us." Ryou said.
The Ishtar's weren't completely hopeful but didn't have much choice either, so they followed the boy to his house. The thing that surprised Marik was that Ryou ran up to another white haired boy- probably his brother- sneaking some food right under a merchant. Ryou told the Ishtar's to hide before running up to his brother after he successfully stole the item and was prepared to run off if it weren't for Ryou catching up to him. Ryou and his brother talked with a few hand gestures aimed to the Ishtar's. It looked like they were arguing, seeing the older one glare at the Ishtar's. Marik noticed that this boy looked almost exactly like Ryou aside from wearing a different kimono than Ryou and his hair being slightly messier than his younger brother's. Not to mention the other boy looked too young to be able to own a place of his own. Maybe Ryou had another "older brother". Finally the two boys came to a conclusion and ran up to the Ishtar's.
"Follow me." The older boy said before leading them outside of the village. The siblings followed the boys until it got dark enough that they couldn't see in front of them. Marik felt a hand grab his own and he jumped having not seen who's hand was grabbing his own.
"We're going to have to hold hands together too our place since it's so dark." Ryou said. Marik nodded before grabbing Mariku's hand, and Mariku grabbed onto one of the other siblings hands.
"I wish I would've brought a lamp with me if I knew we were going to be out this late. And what's Akefia going to think when he sees a group of strangers at the front door? I swear Ryou, you are too nice for your own good." The older one spoke. Before Ryou could say anything it was Marik that spoke on his behalf.
"Well excuse him for doing a favor for us! No one would let us stay in their houses or Inn's and we were just about to sleep in an alley if it weren't for him. Not to mention that we just moved here from the human world!" Marik yelled at the older boy. He heard the other boy chuckle in a way so dark he almost mistook it for Mariku's normal laugh.
"Yes, I heard all about you. The whole district knows about you. The band of siblings that just got here and have been receiving charity left and right for food and clothes. You do know that only lasts for a day and that tomorrow you're all going to have to get jobs to be able to afford things like that." He said.
"How do you know about that?" Marik asked angrily.
"Because it happens to everyone that moves into Soul Society. You only get one days worth of free food, clothes and shelter but by the next day you have to live like us and start getting a job to pay for rent for the house you live in." It was Ryou's voice that spoke through the darkness.
"That's not what the shinigami told us!" Mariku shouted.
"That's because it's their job to sugar coat everything, even for people like you that just moved here." It was the older boy this time.
"And what do you mean by a free night living in shelter? No one would let us inside there homes." Isis said.
"Maybe it's because of your skin. There aren't enough dark colored people in Soul Society to begin with, so their instant reaction is to be cautious of you people. Don't worry, all the people tomorrow will get lectured by the shinigami about refusing to let you stay. But for now stay out of that village, got it?" It was the older boy again.
After that they continued to walk in silence until they could see a bright light at the end of the path. For a minute it felt like the kind of path to the after life Marik was expecting if it not were for the fact that he could still feel the grass and the dirt beneath his feet. After a few more minutes the light grew wider and a house began to appear. It wasn't a normal house that Marik was used to. His whole life living inside a tomb, and going into other people's houses to watch TV had Marik think that the houses here would be underground hideouts or average houses that Marik saw during his adventures in the surface. This house was different. It had paper doors and wooden walls. There were no brick were aluminum walls. Finally they all didn't need to hold hands to find their way to the house as they could see the house clearly enough to make their own way. They all ran up to the door and before they could go inside the older boy stopped them saying they needed to take off their shoes before stepping inside.
"Why?" Mariku asked.
Back in Egypt it wasn't forbidden to not where shoes inside the tomb. Marik even took a habit of wearing shoes at all times, thanks to a cobra that bit him when he was seven. After that Marik developed a fear of snakes and wore shoes around the tomb in case another snake tried to bite him. But Marik had a feeling that a snake wouldn't hide in a place like this so he and his family all took off their shoes and stepped inside of the house. Ryou and his brother grabbed their shoes and put them to the side of the door before stepping inside themselves.
"Akefia, we got some guests here!" The older boy called out.
Ryou told the Ishtar's to step into the living room while he gets his older brother and younger sister out. The Ishtar's sat in the living room on their knees and waited a few minutes until Ryou came back with the rest of his siblings including his twin. The oldest one didn't look like he could possibly be related to them aside from the white messy hair that matched Ryou's older brother. The youngest was a girl around the age of six. She was holding Ryou's and her older brother's hand. Ryou was the first to introduce everyone.
"This is my sister Amane, my older step brother Akefia, and my twin Bakura." Ryou said pointing to the objective people. Marik's eyes widened. This family was just like his family! They both have twins, a sister, and an older step brother! This was getting weird for Marik.
"My name is Isis, this is my older step brother Rishid, and my younger twin brother's Marik and Mariku. Thank you for allowing us to stay here." Isis said bowing politely.
"Yeah, I heard all about you. You just got here from the human world and Ryou couldn't stand the sight of seeing you all spend your first night homeless so he brought you all here. Personally I could care less. We have plenty rooms in this house so feel free to stay as long as you'd like." Akefia said. The Ishtar's smiled happily about this while the Touzoku's shared different reactions. Bakura looked at Akefia completely taken by surprise while Ryou was smiling at his older brother's kindness. Amane was busy fiddling with a loose string on her kimono.
"Akefia, are you crazy? We don't know these people! Their complete strangers and you let them stay in our house?" Bakura stood up shouting. Akefia smiled casually at his younger brother.
"Well, who knows? This could be fun. Not to mention there's finally people that have my skin color." Akefia said. Marik smiled. Maybe this guy understands what it's like to be different?
"Yeah but we don't know what these people are capable of! They could steal from us!" Bakura shouted. Akefia smirked and raised an eyebrow.
"You mean more so than you?" Akefia asked and just like that the argument was over. Ryou got up and walked over to the door.
"I could show you to your rooms. Bakura could you get them the extra mattresses and blankets?" Ryou asked. Bakura growled under his breath but accepted the task without a word. Ryou led them down a series of hall ways until he stopped at a sliding door and opened it. "This can be Marik's and Mariku's room." Ryou said leaving the door open for the twins and going down to another door for the older siblings.
Marik and Mariku stepped into the room and took a look around. There wasn't much in the room besides a closet, a window, and a dresser. Bakura stepped in after them with Amane behind him and rolled out the mattresses out into the center of the floor. Amane handed each of the twins a thick blanket.
"He'e you go. Sweep well!" She said giving them a toothy smile.
"Ryou will wake you in the morning for breakfast." Bakura said turning to leave.
"Wait, tell him that my family only eat fruit, bread, and vegetables. We don't eat any kind of meat." Marik said. Bakura stopped halfway out the room pausing for a moment.
"I'll be sure to tell Ryou about that. Just get some sleep. Come here, Amane." Bakura said making a hand gesture to get Amane to leave the room with him. Amane obeyed and waved the boys goodnight before Bakura slammed the door shut. Marik looked at the beds on the floor.
"Well this isn't too bad, I guess. It doesn't look like the kind of beds we were used to back home but it's still a bed." Marik said folding up the blanket and laying down on it.
"I just wonder why people here have to sleep on the floor. And where's the pillows?" Mariku asked sitting on top of his bed.
Marik got up off the bed and went to the closet looking for any pillows. Thankfully there were up to four pillows on a shelf in the closet. Marik grabbed two for him and his brother and laid the pillow down on the mattress and went back to laying under the blanket. His brother did the same and rolled over on his side and looked at Marik.
"Aren't you glad that I found those people back in the human world? If it weren't for me all of you would've turned into hollows back there in the tomb," Mariku said smirking. Marik rolled over on his side facing his brother also.
"Have you ever seen a hollow while you were away?" Marik asked. His brother shook his head.
"What about you? You've been dead longer than us, so I thought you would've seen one," Mariku said. Marik shook his head.
"No. Don't get me wrong I have gone to the surface several times but that was only at night. During the day I was in the tomb watching over you guys." Marik said leaving out the part that he was mostly watching his twin after his death. Mariku chuckled lightly.
"How sweet. I feel like I should acknowledge you as my guardian angel." Mariku teased. Marik smiled.
"Well sort of. Anyway we should get some sleep." Marik said getting up to turn off the lights looking for a candle or a torch but when he found neither Mariku himself got up to look for anything to help turn off the lights. It got to the point that they were looking all over the walls to find something to turn off the lights and eventually Bakura came in to check on them and raised an eyebrow at both of the boys.
"What do you two think you're doing?" Bakura asked. Both the boys froze and looked at Bakura completely embarrassed.
"Uh, well… We're trying to find a way to turn off the lights but we can't find anything." Marik spoke awkwardly. Bakura looked at the both of them like they were both idiots and moved his hand up to a small switch and flicked it causing the lights to turn off. Both the boys flinched in surprise having not seen anything like that before. Bakura turned on the lights again.
"This is called a 'light switch'. You flick it on or off whenever you want, got it?" Bakura explained slowly turning the lights on and off while he spoke. Marik rolled his eyes and Mariku glared at Bakura crossing his arms.
"We've never seen a light switch before so excuse us for being a little outdated." Marik said placing his hands on his hips.
"Where are you guys from anyway? I can tell your from the human world but where in the human world?" Bakura asked genuinely curious.
"We were from an ancient Pharaoh's tomb back in Egypt. We grew up there all our lives and the only sources of light were candles and torches." Marik explained. Bakura looked a bit surprised to find out how outdated his new roommates were.
"Wow a tomb? What were you a member of some cult?" Bakura asked. Marik laughed a little thinking the whole thing silly himself. Especially since he ventured to the surface numerous times and found the lifestyle of many of the people outside the tomb so much more different than his. No one lived in tombs; people lived in houses and had TV's, and light bulbs, and cars, and so much more technology that Marik had never seen in his life.
"Well no. Our family believed that the Pharaoh would one day come back and we stayed in the tomb waiting for him to arrive." Marik said telling the story like he was just telling a kid a bed time story. Bakura smirked.
"You do know that the dead never come back, right? And that your family had spent up to a couple thousand years under ground for nothing?" Bakura asked mockingly. Marik frowned.
"It was a tradition I was forced into and it caused my death." Marik spat venomously. Marik knew more than anyone how much of a waist of time it was but having someone disrespect his family made Marik's blood boil. Bakura frowned.
"I do apologize for the cause of your death but since it is none of my business, I'm afraid that I just don't care. Good night!" Bakura said with a mocking smile on his face before closing the door on them. Marik stuck out his tongue at the door as if Bakura would see through the thin door and stormed off to bed. Mariku went over and turned off the lights before going into bed himself.
"Good night, brother."
This is the first chapter and I hope you all enjoyed it. I got like seven more chapters to this and I'll be able to update whenever I get the chance. I don't have internet at home but Echo Song Smith does so I'll go to his place when he's not busy. Another not is that I'll baby sit my second cousin and her parents have internet so I'll update over there too ^^
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